Literary Calendar

12:30 P.M.Peter Schmidt, a deputy editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, discusses and signs Color and Money: How Rich White Kids Are Winning the War over College Affirmative Action at Borders Books-Downtown, 18th & L Sts. NW, 202-466-4999.

6:30 P.M.Rajiv Chandrasekaran, an assistant managing editor at The Washington Post and a former Baghdad bureau chief, discusses Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone at the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS), Conference Center B1, 1800 K St. NW. A reception and book signing follow. Admission to this event, sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C., is $15 for the general public, $10 for council members. For details and to RSVP, call 202-293-1051 or e-mail event@worldaffairsdc.org.

6:30 P.M. Professor and author Anouar Majid discusses and signs his new book, A Call for Heresy: Why Dissent Is Vital to Islam and America, at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St. NW, 202-387-7638.

6:30 P.M. Ronald Kessler, a former investigative journalist for both The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, discusses and signs The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack at Borders Books-Downtown, 202-466-4999.

7 P.M. Journalist Tom Brokaw, a longtime anchor of the NBC Nightly News, discusses and signs his new book, Boom!: Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today, at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $6 each, or two free with purchase of the book at Politics and Prose Bookstore. Call 202-364-1919 for details.

7 P.M. The Paul Peck Institute for American Culture and Civic Engagement is hosting a panel discussion, "Civility in Washington: The Baker Example," examining the legacy of former Sen. Howard Baker of Tennessee, with former U.S. Representative Connie Morella, former Montgomery County Council member Howard Denis, and professor Lee Annis, author of Howard Baker: Conciliator in an Age of Crisis (recently released in a second edition), at Montgomery College, Theatre Arts Arena, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville, Md. For details, e-mail lee.annis@montgomerycollege.edu.

20 TUESDAY

11:30 A.M.Michael Dirda, Book World's Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, discusses his new book, Classics for Pleasure, at a luncheon event at the Woman's National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Ave. NW. The event, co-sponsored by the English-Speaking Union, begins with a cash bar followed by lunch at 12:30 p.m. and the lecture at 1 p.m. Admission is $30; call 202-234-4602 or e-mail esuwdc@msn.com to RSVP.

7 P.M. Alex Ross, music critic for the New Yorker magazine, discusses and signs The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-1919.

24 SATURDAY

1 P.M. Siblings Brad Leithauser, poet and novelist, and Mark Leithauser, artist and chief of design at the National Gallery of Art, discuss and sign their new collaboration, Toad to a Nightingale, a fantastical assemblage of creatures, plants and objects celebrated in verse (Brad) and illustration (Mark), at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 202-364-1919.

25 SUNDAY

5 P.M. Reed Whittemor e, a former Maryland poet laureate, two-time U.S. poet laureate and author of The Past, the Present, the Future: Poems Selected and New, discusses and signs his new memoir, Against the Grain: The Literary Life of a Poet, at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 202-364-1919.

SPECIAL NOTICES

The University Club of Washington, D.C. will hold its 18th annual "Meet the Author Night and Book Fair" on Thursday, Nov. 29, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 1135 16th St. NW. Historian Jay Winik ( The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800), journalist Craig Crawford ( The Politics of Life: 25 Rules for Survival in a Brutal and Manipulative World), etiquette doyenne Letitia Baldridge ( Taste: Acquiring What Money Can't Buy) and children's author Pamela Duncan Edwards ( The Old House and Clara the Caterpillar, both illustrated by Henry Cole) are but a few of the authors scheduled to appear. For complete details, contact Judy Voorhis-Gutierrez at 202-824-1378 or e-mail jgutierrez@universityclubdc.com.

The Ruth Rales Comcast Kids Reading Network is seeking volunteers to tutor second graders in public elementary schools throughout Montgomery County. A minimum of one hour a week is requested. Tutors receive training along with the requisite books and materials. For more details, call Peggy Graham at 301-279-3890 or visit http://www.montgomerycountyschoolsmd.org and search for "reading network."

Arlington Cultural Affairs and Metro are once again sponsors of the annual Moving Words poetry competition, the prize being having one's short poetry displayed on Northern Virginia Metrobuses for a three-month period. Contestants for the 2008 adult competition (a contest for kids will be held next year) must be 18 years of age or older, work, attend school or reside in Arlington County and submit work no longer than 10 lines. The deadline for entries is Jan. 18, 2008. For complete guidelines, visit http://www.arlingtonarts.org.